I'm a Lonely Boy
by Beyond-BB-Birthday
Summary: Doug and Ben get to know each other when they have the motor inn all to themselves. Doug realizes that there's more pain inside Ben than anyone could ever have guessed. - Despite the summary, it's actually not dark. Doug/Ben.


Right. So this is a pretty rare-ass pairing, and most people probably hate both Ben and Doug. But I love them :3 Even though I made them very out of character~!

Not based on the song by The Black Keys, btw, just thought the title fit well with Ben's personality.

Takes place in Episode 2 of the game, after they leave the farm together.

* * *

The two men walked swiftly and cautiously along the wooded trail. They followed the light footsteps in the dirt that marked their way. Ben, a high school student with a nervous demeanour, and the younger of the two, was hyper-aware, glancing warily from tree to tree. The other, Doug, a stout young man with less-than-watchful eyes, occupied himself with eating cookies from the basket he carried, gun limply in one hand. Ben hoped they wouldn't get attacked by walkers or, worse, ambushed by bandits, especially with Doug as his only backup. They walked in tense silence for a few moments before Doug spoke.

"I'm sorry, y'know, about your friend."

Ben was surprised that Doug had been thinking about it. He himself had been trying to remove the traumatic recollection from his mind. Pictures of his poor bandmate, Travis, flashed through his head. Him getting shot, getting carried limply back to the motor inn. Him attacking them. Not to mention Mr. Parker being left in the bear trap for the walkers to devour him. He thought back even further to their camp, when they'd been trapped, surrounded by the disgusting men who'd raped his classmates back at the school. They'd hidden for so long... just waiting for them to leave, unable to breathe, to think. Ben shuddered at the terrible memories.

Doug noticed. "Sorry, didn't mean to upset you."

The kid shook his head and kept his eyes forward, pretending to be alert. "It's okay. Just, y'know. They were all I had left."

A moment passed before the older man replied, "Well, you've got us now."

Ben winced. "If you don't throw me out. That woman... Lilly. She doesn't like me, I can tell. She wants me gone."

A snort. "Lilly doesn't like anyone. Don't worry about her, she doesn't decide for all of us." The other just nodded. Doug realized how anxious Ben really was; his hands wouldn't pick one spot on his rifle, they kept moving insistently, tapping on the gun. His eyes darted around the woods, he walked reservedly and looked like he could have a heart attack at any moment. _Poor kid, _Doug thought to himself. _Just lost his friends and now he's worrying about getting tossed into this fucked-up world alone by people he thought he could trust..._

"I'm okay," Ben said suddenly, as if reading his mind. "Really. It's just been a long day." _A long lifetime_.

"That's for sure."

They walked noiselessly again for a few minutes, simply taking in the refreshing environment. Though slightly creepy at first glance, the forest really was quite nice. No walkers had yet stained the ground with guts and blood. The stench of death that had become commonplace anywhere they went was pleasantly, though surprisingly, absent. The only noise to be heard was the somewhat peaceful sound of their feet stepping through dead leaves.

After a few moments, however, Ben couldn't stand the silence. "So, uh," he stuttered timidly, "what did you do? Before all this."

Doug smiled. "I ran a computer repair shop down in Macon, with my uncle Reid."

"Yeah? Were you two close?"

Doug nodded. "Yeah. My parents died when I was little, so I lived with different relatives when I was a kid. But he was always my favourite." He looked solemnly at the ground. "He got eaten by walkers a little bit before I met up with the other guys."

Ben cleared his throat. "Sorry to hear that." Another few wordless steps. Then, "What about your friends? Were you married?"

A modest laugh. "Married? No way. I'm only twenty-three, y'know!"

The kid blushed. "Oh. Guess I thought you were older."

"What about you? No, let me guess..." he looked Ben up and down for a moment, thinking critically. "Seventeen?"

"Eighteen."

Doug smiled. "Pretty close. So this was your last year of school, then?"

Ben nodded. "Yeah. I just got accepted to Cornell, too."

"Cornell? Seriously? You must be really smart." Ben gave him a shy smile. "What'd you get in for?" he asked with a hint of jealousy. College had never been an option for him, having always had terrible grades and no money.

"Biochemical engineering," he said with a full-on grin, knowing from experience that no one knows what that means.

Doug laughed. "And _what_is that? What did you want to do?"

Ben shrugged. "It's basically creating stuff using chemical and biological agents. I was thinking maybe I'd go into developing a new way to produce pharmaceuticals, or something to do with medicine in general." He swallowed, his smile suddenly gone as if someone had slapped him. "I guess I'll never know."

The other man gave him a clap on the back. "Well, it's still pretty impressive. You should talk to Lee, actually, he was a history professor at the University of Georgia."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's cool."

Doug nodded. "So what about your family? Friends? Girlfriend?"

The last word hit him in the face. "Uh, yeah, my parents and my sister, they're back home in Atlanta... at least, they were. I never made it home, so..."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And as for friends... I had a few in the band with me, Travis, mostly. But, yeah, they're pretty much all gone now."

Doug stared at the ground and ate another cookie from the basket.

Ben gauged the other man's personality, and looked him in the eye. _Alright he's a nice enough guy,_ he thought to himself, _I'll give it a shot_. "There was... I was dating someone," he began, fighting the rising blush in his face. He looked straight ahead at the spring trees. "His name was Cooper, he was in the band too. Died a couple months ago, though."

Doug swallowed awkwardly, kicking himself for saying "girlfriend" earlier. "That sucks, sorry to hear it."

Ben tried not to be shocked that Doug wasn't a homophobe. It seemed to be the norm in Georgia, at least before the dead started walking. He decided he should probably keep it from everyone else, though. Doug was nice, but Ben couldn't see himself opening up about it to someone like Lilly or Kenny.

Doug held out the container of the baked goods to the teenager. Ben took one and ate it, thanking Doug. Thankfully, they could both feel the awkwardness in the air diffusing.

A few seconds later, they came to the road, crossed it (carefully avoiding Doug's tripwires) and opened the gate to the fortified, if depressing-looking, motor inn. Lilly stirred in the lawn chair atop the RV, hurrying down to receive the verdict of the St. John Dairy.

"What's wrong? Where's Lee and Mark?" Lilly croaked, her angry eyes darting from Ben to Doug.

"Nothing's wrong," Doug said calmly, "The St. Johns have a sick cow, so they made us a deal: if Katjaa comes down to the farm to see to the cow, they'll feed us all dinner." _Man, she is pretty scary. _

Lilly considered this as Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, Larry and Clementine all migrated over.

Katjaa spoke up first. "I'm not too good with cows, but I'll give it a shot." Lilly glared at her before relaxing with a heavy sigh.

"You think it's safe there?" she asked.

Ben nodded. "The whole place is totally protected by this electric fence." Doug agreed.

The brunette woman considered this. "Okay. Alright, let's go," she said finally.

The kids celebrated. Kenny and Katjaa went to get a few guns for the trip over. Lilly turned back to Doug and Ben to talk to them about the route to the dairy farm. After a moment, she glanced down to see the basket in Doug's hand. "What's that? Is that food?"

"Oh, yeah. Brenda – that's the mom, she runs the place – gave us some cookies in exchange for the gas."

Lilly peered into the container. "You ate them all," she said, deadpan and unimpressed.

Doug, surprised, looked into the basket himself. "Oh. Well, there's still a couple in here..."

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Keep 'em. You can stay behind and watch over the motor inn, I don't think we should all be gone at once."

Doug didn't seem to like this verdict, but agreed on the reasoning. "Okay. Bring me back something, will you?"

Larry, silent up until that point, scoffed. He stood up from where he'd been leaning on the RV. "Are we going or what?" he asked Lilly. She nodded, and everyone congregated at the gate to leave.

Ben didn't move from where Doug stood, slightly dejected-looking, at the RV.

"You coming, kid?" Kenny asked as the rest of the members of the group headed into the forest across the road.

Ben looked back to Doug, who'd climbed onto the RV to look around. "Nah, I'll stay behind, too." Doug smiled at him and nodded in thanks.

"Okay, if you're sure. See you guys later."

Lilly hung back a moment. "If we're not back by nightfall, something might be up," she said. "I... I don't want to sound paranoid, but I don't completely trust these farmer guys, y'know?"

Ben nodded. "Yeah. We'll come to get you."

She gave him a rare smile. "Thanks. Good luck."

"You too." And with that, the group disappeared into the rugged brush and down the path to the farm. Ben closed his eyes for a moment and breathed, wondering to himself why he'd turned down food just to stay with Doug. _He's a good guy, and so am I. I didn't want to leave him all alone like that._

"Thanks for keeping me company," he said as Ben climbed up to the roof of the RV.

"No problem." He groaned, pulling himself over the top and sitting down. They watched absolutely nothing for a few minutes before Ben felt his eyelids falling.

Doug, when Ben looked over, was playing with a small, portable radio. He tried all the knobs and buttons, but it wouldn't work. At the same time, he didn't seem to be trying too hard. It almost seemed like he knew it would never work, that he was just going through the motions. When he caught Ben staring, he coughed and set it back down.

Ben pointed at the device. "Need some help with that thing?"

The other gave one dry, sad laugh. "Nah, it's broken, the wiring in the back's all screwed up."

"Why keep it, then?"

He shrugged. "It's... from a friend." _Please, let it go, let it go..._

Ben sensed that he didn't want to talk about it, so he said nothing more on the matter of the radio. He turned his attention back to watching the road, empty and boring as it was. He glanced around the camp. The kids' toys were strewn about the motor inn in an unabashed mess. A few pieces of furniture sat around the yard, including a table, some chairs and a couch. Cars and other vehicles fortified the fence outside of the gate. This was a place Ben could see himself staying. It certainly wasn't a five-star resort, but now that nearly all of his classmates had died, disappeared or worse, what other choices did he have?

Doug pretended not to notice when Ben slumped against his leg, slowly drifting off. _Wow. How sad is it that this is the closest I've gotten to action in nearly a year?_he reflected. Soon enough, his thoughts redirected to Carley. He shook it off, remembering that they'd never truly been close. He'd been slowly getting over her death, though he still had survivor's guilt about the whole situation.

A few moments later, Ben realized he'd fallen asleep momentarily, against Doug's right leg, nonetheless. He sat up, embarrassed, and wiped his face with his hands. "Uh, s-sorry," he stammered.

Doug laughed. "No worries. Tired?" he asked. Ben nodded, staring out over the clear-skied area. A bird chirped a little ways away until the distinct, though distant, sound of a gunshot scared it away. "You can sleep, if you want. I know it's early, but it looks like you need it. No offense."

Ben chuckled. "None taken. Is the RV unlocked, or...?"

Doug thought about it. "I don't think so, Kenny's usually got the keys. Most of the motel rooms are empty, though."

The other man nodded, climbing down the ladder. "Wake me up, if you need anything," Ben said as he made his way to an empty room nearby.

"Yeah, will do. Sleep tight," he said with a smile.

When the high-schooler was gone, Doug felt a sudden rush of anxiety course through him. It had been a long time before he'd been truly alone, completely responsible for his own safety. Since before he'd met Glenn, Lilly, Larry and Carley at the drugstore. He watched, completely disinterested, as wind blew a plastic bag across the road. He was still hungry, but had managed to will himself to save the rest of the cookies for the kids or for Ben.

There was something weird about that kid, he'd decided. Not _bad_, necessarily, just... off. He seemed afraid all the time. _Who could possibly blame someone for being afraid nowadays?_He thought. Doug felt bad for him.

After another hour of watching nothing happen, Doug could barely keep his eyes open. He decided to shift out with the kid, despite knowing that Ben probably needed sleep more than he did.

"Ben?" he said quietly, knocking on his door. "You awake?"

"Huh? Y-yeah." He sounded like he was crying.

Doug opened the door, closing it behind him and setting his gun down. "Are you okay, man?" he asked softly, in what he hoped was a comforting tone.

Ben was sitting on the bed, back to the door. His head was down. _God, poor guy_, Doug couldn't help thinking.

After a moment, he responded: "I guess."

"You guess?" Doug knew he wasn't very apt at giving advice or comforting others, but he could give it a shot.

Ben shook his head as the other man sat down next to him on the motel bed. Neither said a word for a few moments, before Doug realized he was, in fact, crying. Tears dripped from Ben's face onto his torn-up jeans.

Finally, he said, "I just miss my family, y'know? And I'll never get to know what happened to them. They could be alive, and I'll never know..." Doug had no idea what to say to this. Luckily, it proved unnecessary to say anything, as the kid kept talking. "I never got to say goodbye to them. You know when the last time I told my little sister I love her was? I can't even remember." He wiped his face on the sleeve of his letterjacket. "I-I never even told them I'm gay."

A lot of those painful sentiments rang true for Doug, too. But he didn't know how to say it.

"And I just don't think I can watch anyone else die."

Doug put a hand on his shoulder, hoping that his words would come out right. "I know it's hard to deal with, especially all at once like this. But you can get over anything with time, y'know? When my parents died, I felt just how you feel, and it took a long time, but eventually, I came to terms with it."

Ben sighed and shook his head. "I dunno, man, I..." he closed his eyes. "It just seems like I'll never get through this."

"I know it seems like it now, but we're all dealing with similar stuff, and we can help each other out. You're not alone anymore."

A few more seconds passed, and finally, Ben sat up and breathed deeply. "Yeah?" he said, finally looking over to Doug.

He nodded. "Yeah, honestly. It's easier to deal with in a group. You'll be okay, man."

"Thanks." Ben sniffled and smiled shyly at him. Neither said another word as they hugged modestly, Ben surprised at himself. He'd never been like this before, he'd never had to rely on others for his safety, for his happiness. Ben was sure that everyone in the group thought of him as some needy kid, unable to cope with a crumbling world, when that wasn't how he saw himself at all. It was as if he'd been a completely different person before this all happened.

The men broke apart. Ben wanted to tell him that this wasn't truly him, that he wasn't usually a pathetic mess that depended on others to clean him up. He opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come, he couldn't think of how to say it without sounding too defensive. Instead, he found their mouths meeting timidly in the middle of the space that separated the two, their eyes closing instinctively.

Thoughts scrambled in Doug's head. _Shit, did I do this? Did I start the kiss, or did he? God, he's gonna think I'm –_his breath hitched in his throat as Ben warily kissed him back. He could practically feel the younger man's heart leaping from his chest in anxiety.

Ben tried not to think as their tongues met and he placed a hand on Doug's shoulder. He jumped when he felt a hand on his neck, pulling him closer. Ben kissed him deeper, his lips pressing tenderly against the other man's.

After a few moments, they separated. Ben avoided Doug's eyes as he ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry," he murmured, "d-didn't mean to –"

"—me neither," Doug finished hastily, also awkwardly not looking the kid in the face.

They were silent. Eventually, Ben looked over to him. "Y'know, I'm not usually like this. I wasn't all weak and pathetic before, I was a total optimist and everything. It's just this new shit that's changed me." He sighed and shook his head. "Those bandits, man, they put us all through hell. You wouldn't believe the sick shit I've seen..."

"You're not weak and pathetic," Doug argued, "Anyone would be a mess if they went through what you did. We're all a mess, in our own ways."

Ben nodded, shaking it off. Before he even realized, they'd kissed again, twice more. He kept meaning to figure out who'd instigated it all, but he didn't particularly care at that point. He found himself lying back on the hard, hotel bed, Doug attached to him at the mouth again.

"Sorry," said Doug, pulling away from Ben.

The other shook his head, pulling him back down to kiss again. Doug, slightly fazed, followed Ben as he took the lead of the kiss, one hand bracing himself against the bed and the other snaking up Ben's shirt cautiously, as if unable to cultivate full confidence under the circumstances. He felt the teenager shiver underneath him as his fingers stroked Ben's hip.

Ben sat up momentarily, staring at Doug as he hastily removed his high school jacket and tossed it aside, immediately leaning in to meet his mouth again. He tangled his fingers in the older man's hair, his initial shyness melting away with each passing minute.

Doug felt adrenaline pulse through him. He groaned into Ben's mouth and tried not to freak out. It had been more than a little while since he'd been intimate with anyone – male or female – and the last thing he wanted to do was scare the kid off with his lack of experience. He also didn't want to go too far, to seem like he was taking advantage of him. When Ben relocated his mouth to Doug's jaw and neck and sucked, however, Doug forgot all about going slow.

They both broke apart to remove their shirts. Ben, in an awkward position, solicited Doug's help in taking it off. He then placed a tentative hand on the younger man's thin chest, slightly surprised at how skinny he was. He could see his bones protruding through his skin. Doug suddenly remembered: "We should probably be watching for walkers."

Ben blushed, realizing he was right. "Y-yeah, I forgot..." he said, sitting up and catching his breath.

Doug wanted to slap himself. _Did I seriously just cockblock _myself_?!_ he thought in disbelief. _Jeez, no wonder I haven't had sex in a year. _He leaned up, looked out the window to the yard, and, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, sat back down. "Nah, we're fine," he amended with a grin.

The high-schooler smiled back and they kissed again, lying back down. "F-fuck," Ben stammered against Doug's lips, hoping to God he couldn't feel his hard-on pressing against his leg. (Un?)fortunately, he did, in fact, notice it. Ben stared as Doug hurriedly undid his belt and pants, pushing the clothing away along with his underwear. Ben gasped when he felt a hand around his erection and coaxed Doug up by the chin to entangle their tongues together.

Ben let self-consciousness escape him for once in his life. He didn't think, not about anything except the familiar feeling of intimacy he'd gone without for too long. He could prove that he wasn't some naive kid without any life experience, that he was competent and mature. Ben managed to communicate to Doug, without parting and instead through placing an agile hand on his ass, that he wanted the other man's pants off.

Doug sat up to shuck the remainder of his clothes before quickly returning to the horny teenager below him. He leaned down to meet his lips again, one hand still on Ben's erection, the other in his hair. Ben startled him by sitting up, and in one movement, pushing Doug's back against the bed and moving over to straddle his hips.

"Shit," Doug swore, his hands migrating to Ben's hips and down his thighs. He hoped he could keep up with the teenager.

Ben silenced him with his tongue in an open-mouthed kiss. He leaned against him, putting pressure on all the right spots. "Want to, uh," he said, a sudden bout of shyness crashing over him, "y'know..." He hoped Doug was at least proficient enough to get the basic mechanics down; he could do the rest.

It took a moment for Doug to realize what he meant. "Oh, right. Yeah." He glanced around the room for something to use as lubricant, anything. _Is there seriously no fucking lotion or anything in here?!_

"Oh," Ben said, climbing off of him to dig through a drawer. "Here." He tossed him a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Doug nodded, trying to keep himself calm as he squeezed the gel into his hand. "C'mere," he said quietly. Ben smiled and complied, resuming his position on top of Doug. "Y-you're okay?"

Ben nodded and closed his eyes as Doug fingered him, much more gently than he'd anticipated. He breathed heavily, trying with every fibre of his being not to be too loud._ That would be very interesting to explain to the group when the camp became crawling with walkers._

Doug stretched him and slicked himself up with the lotion before leaning up to kiss the kid again, if only to buy him time to calm himself down. Though he was older, he had a feeling he wasn't nearly as comfortable as Ben. And, honestly, when _Ben_is more comfortable with something than you, that says a lot.

When they broke apart, Ben said, "It's okay," trying to mask his anxiety. _God, my first, since Cooper. I can do this, I can do this,_he told himself, trying not to think about it. He craned his neck upward as Doug entered him slower than he thought possible. "Ngn, faster," he moaned, his eye closing and his arms finding support against Doug's shoulders.

"You sure?" Doug choked out, staring at him intensely, Ben's sinewy fingers digging into his skin. Ben nodded, leaning down to put his head against the other's chest. Doug looked down at the man's dirty-blonde hair, trying desperately not to hurt him, though he did seem to know what he was doing.

Ben slid down onto Doug, groaning out in pleasure when he hit his prostate. "Fu-uck," he moaned dryly, riding him slowly at first. He felt Doug's hands climb his upper body and he let out a growl of his own. Doug watched him in desire, thoughts fleeting in his mind, jumping around at full speed. _Am I doing okay? Has he done this before? Of course he has, idiot! God, I barely know this kid, I hope he doesn't think I'm a slut. I hope he doesn't think that I think _he's_ a slut. Hmm, is he too young for me? Let's see, half my age plus seven is..._he shook it off, trying not to ruin it by doing the math.

They moved together after a moment, Doug bucking upward to meet Ben moving downward. He felt his head sprawled back on the sheets, his toes on the cool carpet, feet arching as he thrust up into the other man with increasing speed and desperation. Ben moaned harshly as Doug put his hand around his hard-on again, roughly jacking him off against his sweat-slicked stomach.

"Ah! Jesus!" Ben cried out, clasping a hand over his mouth to silence himself. Doug was having a hard time keeping quiet himself, opting instead to gasp throatily whenever the teen would tense around him, arch his back so hard it looked like his spine might break, or meet his eyes. As Ben seemed to adapt more and more, Doug let go of more and more of his inhibitions, going harder and faster whenever Ben would whisper for him to do so. Their foreheads met and they kissed deeply, which soon turned in a rough biting contest between their sets of teeth and lips.

After another few moments, Ben slowed down and finally stopped altogether. "Wh-what's wrong?" Doug asked, terrified he'd hurt him. _Shit, shit, shit, I knew it, I screwed up, FUCK._

"No, nothing," Ben said, motioning for Doug to change positions.

"Oh." Doug nodded, relaxing a bit upon realizing he'd done nothing wrong. "Uh, on your back, or…?" he asked, his mind still racing and his heart still doing gymnastics regardless.

"Yeah," he said with a hazy smile. "_Please_." Doug laughed nervously, a chill running down his spine at the needy tone in Ben's raspy voice.

Doug timidly positioned himself thusly, the kid's long, skinny legs wrapped around his waist. He pushed in, daring to not start out slowly. Ben immediately put a fist to his mouth, biting ruthlessly on his knuckles to keep from screaming. His other arm reached back against the headboard, grabbing the wood until his hand turned white.

"Y-you okay?" Doug asked, panting and swallowing as he pushed into him. Ben didn't answer, too blinded by pleasure, his back bending about a foot off the bed. Doug pushed away the hand blocking the kid's mouth to hear him more clearly.

Ben forced the other man down by his neck to shove his tongue into his mouth shamelessly. "Fuck, Doug," he groaned against his lips as Doug continued to thrust into him. At the same time, he nipped less-than-gently at Ben's jaw, stroking his tongue against his pale skin.

Ben opened his eyes and bit his lip. He unhooked his legs from behind Doug's back, the older man propping his legs up with his hands instead, getting a better angle. "Uhn, B-Ben," he choked out, feeling his hair clinging against his forehead. Ben clenched his fingers into the sheets as he felt his own knees pressing against his chest.

"Ah, fuck," Ben cried, louder than he'd meant. He shoved his head back against the pillow, hastily grabbing his cock.

Doug let his head press against Ben's shoulder. "I'm gonna come," he groaned out, looking up to him to gauge his reaction, as if asking permission. "Want me t-to, uh –"

Ben shook his head frantically. "C-come in m-me," he pleaded, placing his hands on either side of Doug's head, kissing him deeply as he climaxed, feeling his moans spilling into his mouth.

Doug pulled out and gasped, taking only a split second to recover before helping Ben orgasm by locking eyes with him and fisting his dick, pumping it frantically as the kid writhed around. Ben hummed unintelligibly, curling his toes and gasping. His hand found Doug's and they entwined their fingers, Doug smiling.

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Ben moaned, his voice cracking audibly. He didn't take his eyes off of the man above him. He shuddered and barely managed to put a hand over his mouth as he screamed. He came hard all over Doug and himself, trying to catch his breath.

The men laid on the bed, Ben with his head in the crook of Doug's neck, still holding hands, both breathing heavily for a few moments without a word.

_Holy shit, that was amazing –_

_Oh my god, oh my god –_

"W-wow," Ben finally said, sitting up.

Doug nodded, wondering what would happen now. The high-schooler laughed suddenly, standing up and looking for his clothes. "You know, you miss the little things, despite everything."

"Little things?"

Ben grinned. "Yeah, like I could really use a cigarette right now."

Doug chuckled and joined the kid in getting dressed. "I was never a smoker, but I sure do miss ice cream..."

Ben laughed along with him as he zipped up his jacket and looked out the window. "Oh, hey, it's getting dark. Shit, it's raining, too..."

Doug raised his eyebrows and headed for the door. "We should probably go look for the others, they should've been back by now." _We'll probably never get a moment alone together after tonight,_ he thought remorsefully.

Ben looked over to Doug. He bit his lip, wondering what he was thinking. He would probably never be able to look at him or talk to him again, not unless they talked about this right then and there. "Uh..." he said, staring at his feet.

"Yeah?"

Ben blushed. He couldn't believe he was still shy with him after what they'd just done. He hadn't been shy _before. _He didn't know what to say.

Luckily, Doug said: "It's okay, we don't have to talk about it," he provided. "It was great," he added with a smile and a fleeting look.

The kid couldn't possibly have felt any more embarrassed. He let out a laugh and nodded. "Yeah, it was. Maybe, y'know, if we don't die, we could..."

"Do it again sometime?"

They chuckled awkwardly, Ben nodding. "Yeah."

They stood in silence for another moment before sharing one last kiss and leaving to return to the St. John Dairy.


End file.
